


checklists

by foundyourheart



Series: tumblr fics [1]
Category: Archie Comics, Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Ficlet, Fluff, M/M, Quiet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 12:34:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30106026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foundyourheart/pseuds/foundyourheart
Summary: prompt: you always know how to make me smile
Relationships: Jughead Jones/Reggie Mantle
Series: tumblr fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2215326
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	checklists

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted on [tumblr.](https://foundyourheart.tumblr.com/post/645934279563657216/jugheadreggie-you-always-know-how-to-make-me)
> 
> this is a quiet ficlet because I am utterly exhausted today, and don't know if I'll spend anymore time with it. I might revisit it, but it's unlikely.

Jughead yawns for the fifth time since Archie arrived to disrupt his afternoon nap on the hammock. He shifts slightly, noticing that Archie is starting to burn a path in his freshly cut grass.

“...and then she said that she’s going on a date with Reggie!” Archie exclaims, gesturing wildly.

Jughead’s curiosity is caught a little. Not because he particularly _cares_ what Reggie’s been up to lately, but...okay, well, maybe _part_ of him cares. When Reggie’s involved, things are often a competition. Getting Ronnie to date him instead of Archie is purely a game to Reggie. And Jughead thinks only an idiot wouldn’t know that - and Veronica is no idiot.

However, Jug is starting to consider his best friend one.

“...so _then,_ I got the idea to interrupt their date and--” Archie says, continuing talking.

Jughead rolls his eyes a few times under his grey pointed hat before he sits up. “YO!”

“--and then--what?” Archie asks.

“Just go talk to Ron,” Jughead says. “Odds are she was trying to make you jealous.”

“You think?”

“I think.”

“Okay. Maybe I’ll do that--”

“Do it. Don’t do it. But,” Jughead takes a deep breath, “ _do not_ interrupt my nap again.”

Archie’s face flushes with red blush. “Shit, man, I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about it.”

“We’ve had this conversation before,” Jughead says, yawning. “A thousand times before. Naps are _sacred._ Y’know?”

“Yeah-yeah,” Archie says. “I’ll be back later. I’m going to see if Veronica really was trying to make me jealous.”

Within a few minutes, Jughead is settled into his hammock. He yawns again, pulling his hat down to cover his eyes from the sun. He’s sure he’ll pass out in the next few minutes, so he quickly sends off a text message before the ZZZs start coming.

**Reggie Mantle**  
  


> _10:34am_
> 
> You always know how to make me smile

**&.**

Reggie has no idea what the context of Jug’s text message means, but he shrugs it off as another weird Jughead quirk. He tosses his phone into the passenger’s seat, and looks back at Ronnie’s driveway gate.

Archie and his infamous jalopy are there, pleading to get into the property. Reggie doesn’t even need to put down his windows to know that Archie is sobbing pathetic apologies. Ronnie will keep him on his toes for as long as she can.

He doesn’t mind being a pawn in her games, because he had a nice meal out with a best friend. That’s always nice. They mostly spoke of Archie, and occasionally, Ronnie had something to say about Betty or Jughead, but mostly, the focus of the night was a particular redhead.

He drives around Riverdale, looking for something - _anything_ \- to do. When he comes up to Pop’s Shoppe, he feels himself being tugged into the gang’s usual hangout spot.

Frankly, Reggie doesn’t care for Pop’s place. He always feels out of place there, like _he’s_ the one that doesn’t belong. And he’s never technically invited to any of the hangouts. He usually stumbles upon them.

But he parks the car and walks to the front door of the restaurant all the same.

Reggie spots Midge and Moose in the corner booth, Betty talking with Kevin at the counter, and Jughead sitting alone in a booth by the windows. He doesn’t know why, but he’s drawn to Jughead. Maybe it’s the fact that Jug never shows him a _hint_ of interest, maybe it’s the fact that nothing Reggie does will ever impress him, or maybe it’s the fact that Reggie’s had a crush on Jughead since they were ten. It’s always been in the background of everything Reggie does; that gnawing need to be right there with Jughead.

“You’re late,” Jughead says when Reggie slips into the booth.

He puts his eyebrows together and tilts his head.

“See, Betty?” Jughead says, waving towards Reggie. “I’m not a loner.”

“That’s even weirder, Jughead,” Betty says, laughing. She walks over and puts her hand on Reggie’s shoulder. “Play nice together.”

“We will,” Jughead says.

And then Betty and Kevin head out of Pop’s. Reggie looks at Jughead. “What was that?”

“Betty was just commenting on how I’m a loner,” Jughead mutters. “I know she means well, but...”

“It’s annoying.”

“That it is,” Jughead says. “You don’t have to sit with me if you want to protect your reputation or whatever.”

Reggie smiles, and uncertain of why, he settles into the booth. “What’d you order?”

**&.**

Jughead doesn’t know how it keeps happening, but Reggie is everywhere. He’s with Betty walking by the Jones’ home when Betty gets an emergency call from her older sister. He’s at Pop’s when no one else is around. He’s volunteering to be Jughead’s partner in Chemistry class, a surprise to only Jug himself.

It happens so often now, it doesn’t surprise Jughead when Reggie walks up the Jones’ pathway and joins him on the porch swing.

Because, as far as company goes, Jughead could do much worse than Reggie. Maybe he occasionally cracks a joke about his good looks that seems very self-centered, but he never judges Jughead for how much he eats, never comments on the hat that he made in fifth grade and still wears, never expects more from Jug than he can give.

“I’ve been trying to figure out the text you sent me,” Reggie tells him after a few minutes of silence. Reggie doesn’t glance at Jughead once, allowing him to enjoy taking in Reggie’s profile. “I don’t know how I always make you smile, but I’m glad for it.”

Jughead blinks. _What?_ He nods, but he has no idea what Reggie’s talking about.

“I think I like you,” Reggie whispers. He says it so quietly, that Jughead isn’t sure he heard him correctly at all.

Still, he’s compelled to reach out and grab Reggie’s hand. To offer some comfort. Because Jughead’s been in this position before; having to reject someone because he’s aromantic.

Except the words don’t come. And Jughead finds himself still holding Reggie’s hand.

**&.**

They don’t talk much about the hand-holding, but it becomes a habit for Reggie to reach for Jughead’s hand. He knows that Jugead is aromantic, and having a crush on him seems so dumb when Jughead won’t be able to reciprocate. But Jughead hasn’t pushed him away. If anything, he’s pulled Reggie closer.

Reggie’s washing his newest car in the driveway, making sure she’s well taken care of, when Jughead appears at his side suddenly. He jerks out his hand, holding a piece of paper to Reggie.

“Oh, my hands are wet,” Reggie says, trying to dry them off on his shorts. He took off his shirt earlier because when it got wet, it stuck to him, and it was annoying. Suddenly though, Reggie feels naked.

Is Jughead breaking up with him in a note?

He grabs the piece of paper and reads the title. **_Queer Platonic Relationships: What They Are, How to Handle One, and a Checklist._**

“What’s this?” Reggie asks, looking up. But Jughead is already sauntering off.

He ditches his car wash in the driveway to go inside and google. Queer platonic relationships? What on earth was Jughead trying to tell him?

**&.**

It feels like forever until he gets a text message from Reggie.

**_Reggie Mantle_ **

> 1:36PM
> 
> I’ve completed the checklist

Jughead’s slow smile covers his entire face. Reggie understood, without words, that Jughead is asking him to be in a queer platonic relationship. He’s relieved. And he texts back:

> I hope it matches mine :)

**Author's Note:**

> find me on [tumblr.](http://foundyourheart.tumblr.com/)


End file.
